The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology wants the public to help it head off quantum computers. The federal agency recently published a report focusing on cryptography in a quantum world. The report outlines a long-term approach for avoiding the problem before it happens. NIST plans to launch a competition in which members of the public will devise and test promising new cryptographic methods. Several of today’s security mechanisms could be cracked by a quantum computer, including public-key encryption and digital signatures, so multiple new alternatives will be required.”]